Two Taiwanese crew members onboard a Keelung-registered fishing vessel were questioned by Japanese authorities after their boat was intercepted for allegedly operating in Japanese waters yesterday morning, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said.
The Japanese authorities agreed, after negotiations, to release the detained ship and crew after they paid a fine of about ￥6 million (US$37,320).
The boat, the Fu Yang No. 266 (福洋266號), and the crew returned to Taiwan last night, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Photo copied by Lin Chia-tung, Taipei Times
The vessel was intercepted by a Japanese Fisheries Agency vessel while it was operating about 288 nautical miles (533km) northeast of Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼) at about 1am yesterday, the CGA said in a news release.
Pengjia Islet is just over 30 nautical miles north of Keelung and 76 nautical miles west of the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) — known as the Senkakus in Japan — in the East China Sea.
Japanese fishery personnel boarded the vessel for inspection and questioned two of its Taiwanese crew members, including the boat’s captain, the CGA said.
The boat also carried six Indonesian fishery workers, it added.
The CGA said it immediately dispatched a Nantou-class patrol vessel to the scene when it received a report at 6:50am about the incident.
After checking with Japanese authorities, the CGA said the vessel’s crew is suspected of illegally entering the waters near Japan’s Amami Oshima to fish.
The CGA said it had been in contact with Japanese authorities to gain a better understanding of the situation, and to assist the boat’s owner, Tsai Chia-wei (蔡家緯), and crew in dealing with the matter.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also contacted the Japanese authorities to express its concern and offer assistance.
It was not the first instance this year of Japan detaining a Taiwanese fishing boat.
On May 11, a ship piloted by an Indonesian national crashed into a reef as the pilot was dozing on duty, according to a report about the incident.
While Japan scrambled ships and rescued all seven crew members on board, the captain and Indonesian pilot were detained for damaging coral reefs.
The two men were released after paying a fine of ￥200,000, and all crew members were returned to Taiwan 13 days after the incident.
Additional reporting by Lu Hsien-hsiu and Chiu Chun-fu
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